The amazing world of LEGO® Technic constructions.
Based on the vision from Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891-1958), a carpenter from Billund/Denmark, whose personal motto was "Only the best is good enough" - Leg Godt (Play Well).

TechnicBRICKs blog (TBs hereafter) is devoted to the LEGO Technic theme and intends to spot mainly on news and developments, rather than new sets reviews or users creations (aka MOCs). However you will also find them here occasionally...

Sunday, May 15, 2016

I was thrilled when I found out that TechnicBRICKs was invited to attend the FAN MEDIA DAY event happening next 3rd of June, at the LEGO headquarters in Billund, Denmark.

Can you imagine?... We will have the great pleasure to get together and interview the LEGO Technic team, and by the way also a few other LEGO teams and franchises.

Help us - What would you ask if it was you going there?

Post your questions and we'll take some with us.
But please understand certain questions may collide with TLG trade secrets and also LEGO does not comment on future products and releases. This means it is not worth to ask such questions like, will you ever do this set, release that new element, when will the first LPF 2.0 elements start to appear in Technic sets, etc.

Let your imagination run wild and ask about anything else Technic.

We still have no idea how to make it fit, but this could be also an opportunity to ask the designers about some technicalities that we never completely understood, like certain friction pins that sometimes are used where apparently their frictionless counterparts should have been used instead. We remember this happening for instance with the outriggers in 42009Mobile Crane MK II and the shaft that turn changeover catches in 8043Motorized Excavator. Both in parts of flagship hence large sets where friction penalizes performance and easily the batteries struggle to make the respective functions work flawlessly [1, 2]. Do you recall any similar situations which made you wonder .

If you fill likely you may also raise some other general questions. There will be opportunity to interview a few other teams and franchises (e.g LEGO Worlds, LEGO Ideas, Rebrick, etc.) and depending on the questions raised we will book a slot to interview them as well.

Well, let's see, in the order they're popping out in my mind... some of these will definitely not be answered, but, to directly translate a Portuguese saying, "those who don't cry don't suckle". ;)

. For the designers who began as AFOLs, what was the biggest difference between the AFOL way of building (with unlimited techniques and limited elements) and the designer way of building (with limited techniques and unlimited elements)?

. Is it intentional to follow up large sets (like the 8295 Telescopic Handler, the 8110 Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400 or the 9398 4x4 Crawler) with "mini" versions of them (like the 8045 Mini Telehandler, the 9390 Mini Tow Truck or the 42001 Mini Off-Roader)?

. Why do the triangular panels (#1 87080 to #22 11947) have that weird shape at the tip (unlike the trapezoidal 18945), which makes "modelling" surfaces with them more awkward?

. What is the influence of fan requests (like longer pneumatics or the black soft axle 19L 32235) in the designs of new sets?

. Do you think it's possible to build models even bigger and more complex than the 42009 Mobile Crane MK II or the 42055 Bucket Wheel Excavator within the natural limits of LEGO elements (non-lubricated plastic parts), while still maintaining the expected functionality of an official LEGO set, and can you identify the current main "bottleneck" that make building even bigger, more functional models challenging?

. Tying with the previous question, has there been a model that you'd like to produce but came to the conclusion that it's wasn't possible to do so due to constraints of current LEGO element technology? Why wasn't it possible?

. What is the reason behind the recent expansion of the Technic palette with weird colours, namely the introduction of Medium Blue, Medium Azure and Dark Purple?

. What is your opinion on stickers: the added realism for the model versus the reduced reusablity of the stickered elements for MOCs?

. May we know any details about the 42051 Airport Rescue Vehicle, including why it wasn't released along with the rest of the 2016 Technic range?

. When naming the different types of Power Functions motors, was it a deliberate choice to leave out designations like "S" and "XS"? Is the possibility of we ever getting those highly requested sizes real, or was it deemed technically/economically impracticable?

. What do you think about the various Bluetooth third-party remote control accessories people are creating for LEGO models?

. Besides adding Power Functions motorisation, do you design sets with implicit other upgrades in mind, using extra parts from the user's inventory? Can you name us some examples of these "Easter eggs"?

Given that (a) the animated building instructions can't be used on a laptop or desktop computer and are only available for a limited number of models, and (b) the regular building instructions are prepared on a computer in the first place, WHY are the published pdfs of building instructions of such terrible low quality?

Why Didnt The Mercedes acros Didnt chame with air tank for such a set the air but works like crap goes up more less good but coming down it just drops don't come as smooth as going upAny way of fixing thatThanks

@Alicio Silva: that behaviour is typical of the pneumatic system, and an air tank won't change it: just try any air tank-equipped model with a heavy section, and section will also drop like a stone when you open the valve.

- Why are pins and axles becoming more colourful every year? Will we get to the point where every axle length will come in a different colour?- 8448 had very good steering geometry with the pivot point near the centre of the wheel. Why have their been no new wheels with that geometry since 1999?- Why have the wheels from 8420 never been used again?

Each year the flagship Technics sets seems to get bigger with more pieces. Do they think there's a limit on the size and/or expense of a set? Or might we even see 4,000 or 5,000+ sets in the future? (Which personally I think would be awesome!)

1. Colors, colors, colors- will the yellow (and other bright) axles replace or supplement the neutral grey/black ones ?- if LEGO can produce 2L black axles for kiddie sets like CITY, SW, etc why not for Technic high level sets ?- Why the ugly blue 3L pins and axlepins on display sets like GT3 ? It's a 16+ set, 10-15y ago kids were able to handle such colors on 7y+ Technic sets...

2. We're there any longevity/endurance tests done on the PF motors ? Any best practices ? A brand new M-motor has died on me running the Fairground Mixer on about 5/7 9V setting on 5th day of event (6 hour each)

3. Is there any Technic "illegal connection techniques" presentation/guide like the one Jamie presented years ago on common bricks topic ?

Why has the 8 tooth gear without friction only showed up in one Technic set?

@papluh 2. GBC does long term testing on PF motors all the time. They die, a lot, I've got a big pile of dead ones. There are a lot of factors that determine how quickly. Seems like a constant light load is one of the better ways of killing them...

What do LEGO designers think about the astonishing planetary wheel hub proposal from Duncan Bramley?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93H82WU8txMhttp://thebrickblogger.com/2016/01/idea-for-lego-technic-planetary-wheel-hub/

Air tanks are particularly useful if you use a manual pump to create pressure. Once the latest pneumatic flagships like Arocs and Unimog used motorized pumps or compressor, the air tanks are not really needed.

8420 wheels were replaced by a new design that is symmetrical, common for the front and rear wheels (one part in inventory rather than two) and even the tires were replaced newer ones that are much easier to install and remove.

TechnicBRICKs often shows other peoples' creations and/or images. We always try to credit the author(s) and link to their main publishing website, and if possible with their name in real life.
Since this is not always possible, we request that if you find something here that is yours or from someone you know, you leave a comment on the respective post and claim the authorship.

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